Under Construction: Keeping St-Denis St. worksite on track

Work on the east side of St. Denis St. has been completed, and the west side is half done, with the project still on time. Rachel St. was closed on Sunday night for about a week to cars. Bikes and pedestrians can still cross. In this photo, a construction worker carries a detour sign during construction work on St-Denis St. at the corner of Rachel in Montreal Monday Aug. 15, 2016. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette

In a summer series called Under Construction, the Montreal Gazette will monitor one project along St-Denis St., with weekly updates on the progress of the work andhow merchants are coping, and explainwhat special measures are in place to ensure the project is completed on time. We’ll also show readers unique aspects of the construction process, with a different angle every week.

The mechanical shovels and dump trucks are doing the heavy lifting now, but the work they’re doing was planned by the contractor and the city’s public works department years before.

“It takes two or three years of planning with the water department, and the department of design for a project like this,” said Fernando Rivera, an engineer, and the project manager for the city of Montreal supervising the St-Denis worksite. “At the end, we at the city public works department get the contract and make sure that the timeline is respected.”

The St-Denis site is one of the first examples of a work project turned on its head. Instead of having different companies working on their own projects to replace underground infrastructure, all the work is now planned by the city, in conjunction with the general contractor hired for the job.

“It’s a new way of doing things, and it’s starting to bear fruit,” said Lionel Perez, the city’s executive committee member in charge of infrastructure. “More than 90 per cent of projects last year were completed on time and on budget.”

Called an integrated project, the city has rethought how it should organize major worksites. After complaints from merchants, residents and commuters on Parc Ave., and St-Laurent Blvd. — which were both delayed for months because of poor co-ordination by workers — the city decided to work out a way to make sure roadwork projects are better co-ordinated.

THE PROJECT: Replacing pipes, underground wiring, lampposts and asphalt on St-Denis St. between Duluth Ave. and Marie-Anne St.

PROJECTED COST: $14.4 million

DATE STARTED: Fall 2015

PROJECTED END DATE: November 2016

PROGRESS UPDATE: East side work completed. West side: 80 per cent complete, with the project still on time. Rachel St. was closed on Sunday night for about a week to cars. Bikes and pedestrians can still cross.

Related

The project involves co-ordinating all companies providing services on a street, like the city’s electric commission, Gaz Métro, Bell and Vidéotron. The companies detail the work they have to do and the estimated time it will take, and the city and general contractor outline a week by week schedule that all parties must follow. Rivera’s job is to make sure that schedule is respected.

“No one is allowed to do anything unless I know about it first,” Rivera said.

The old way of doing things allowed for mistakes to happen, Perez said. On St-Laurent, for example, the street was paved, but Gaz Métro crews had not done their work, so they had to rip up the asphalt to redo the gas lines on the street. That project dragged on six months longer than originally anticipated, partly because of poor co-ordination.

“What happened in St-Laurent isn’t going to happen again,” Rivera said. “We’re saving a lot of time and a lot of money and we’re having fewer complaints from citizens.”

Having a so-called integrated project on its own, however, is no guarantee that the timeframe will be respected. Last year’s experience on Peel St. is an example of how even with the new model, things can get delayed. In that case, the southern block of Peel between de Maisonneuve Blvd. and Ste-Catherine St. dragged on a month more than anticipated.

Perez said the key to keeping projects on time is including bonus clauses, for each phase of the work. St-Denis is one of the first in the city to offer workers bonuses when they meet certain milestones in the project, and severe penalties if they fall behind.

Correction: Due to incorrect information supplied by the city an error appeared in the original report. The progress update, initially said the west side was 50 per cent complete, but in fact 80 per cent was complete at the time of publication. The Montreal Gazette regrets the error.

This Week's Flyers

Comments

Postmedia is pleased to bring you a new commenting experience. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.